Shank press



M. REPICE SHANK PRESS May 1, 1951 Filed Oct. 17, 1949 IN V EN TOR.

Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs SHANK PRESS Mario Repice, Cleveland, Ohio Application October 17, 1949, Serial No. 121,751

2 Claims.

My present invention comprises a novel shank press designed specially for the clamping of the shank portion of the sole of a shoe to hold the same in proper position on the shoe after cementing and until the cement dries.

In the process of half soling shoes, it is common practice to cement the half sole to the shoe upper by stitching around the edge of the half sole. This leaves the portion of the half sole across the shank of the shank of the shoe unstitched. The edge stitching serves to adequately hold the stitched portion of the half sole in proper position while the cement dries without the aid of clamping or pressing means to hold that portion of the half sole in position. However, the unstitched edge portion of the half sole extending across the shank of the shoe requires the application of holding pressure to hold that portion of the half sole in proper position on the shoe upper until the cement which has been applied to the inner side of the half sole dries.

For the purposes of clamping the shank portion of the half sole to the shoe upper under these conditions, it has been common practice in the past to utilize sole press devices which are primarily designed to clamp or press the entire sole of the shoe to the upper and such clamp or press devices primarily-designed to clamp the whole sole, have been the only devices available for clamping or holding the shank portion of the half sole in proper position on the shoe upper under the conditions above mentioned where it is only necessary to clamp or hold the shank portion of the shoe in proper position on the upper.

Now the use of clamp or press devices primarily designed to clamp the entire sole of the shoe have certain disadvantages where it is desired and necessary merely to clamp the shank portion of the half sole and among these disadvantages is the fact that sole press devices primarily designed for clamping the entire sole are necessarily of more expensive and complicated nature, and the fact that such devices are not alternatively usable for the clamping of soles of both right and left shoes, each such device being usable only with either a right shoe or a left shoe. The result of this situation has been that the shoe rebuilder or repair man must have a considerable investment of several hundred dollars for even one or two of the sole press devices now commonly used, each of which is provided with instrumentalities for accommodating a right shoe and separate instrumentalities for accommodating a left shoe, in order to accomplish the 2 purposes for which the present invention is designed.

In view of the large investment necessary in connection with the sole press devices previously in use, the average shoe rebuilder or repair man can only afford a relatively small number of such devices so that at any particular time only a very few shoes can be accommodated by the sole presses at his disposal, resulting in great loss of time in completing shoe repair operation due to the necessity for waiting while the shoes that can be accommodated by the presses at his disposal have remained therein a sufiicient period until the cement dries before said presses can be used for similar operations on additional shoes that will ordinarily be awaiting the same operaion.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a shank press adapted to clamp the shank portion of the sole to the shoe upper, which shank press is of relatively simple construction and inexpensive manufacture and which is capable of accommodating either right or left shoes in the same press.

Another object of my invention is to provide a shank press for the purposeindicated which includes an anvil or shoe supporting clamp member and a detachable clamp piece which may be readily slipped over the shank portion of the sole of the shoe after the shoe is in place on the supporting clamp member, which detachable clamp piece detachably and adjustably cooper ates withtightening instrumentalitie associated with the supporting clamp member. Another object of my invention is to provide a shank press for the purpose indicated having clamp means which are universally adjustable relatively to one another.

The shank press of my invention essentialiy comprises the shoe supporting clamp member carried by a suitable base, a detachable clamp member, and clamp tightening and adjusting instrumentalities movably carried by the base and detachably cooperable with the detachable clamp piece for clamping the latter in different positions of adjustment fore and aft and laterally with respect to the supporting clamp members.

A feature of my invention involves the provision of the detachable clamp piece with elongated slots arranged on opposite side edges thereof for receiving the movable and adjustableclamping instrumentalities and the provision of seat portions at the inner ends of the slots for receiving portions of the said clamping instru-q mentalities to prevent lateral displacement thereof.

Another feature of my invention involves the association of the adjustable clamping instrumentalities with the base for universal movement relative thereto.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a shank press embodying my invention showing the detachable clamp piece as when in cooperative relation with the clamping and adjusting instrumentalities and clamped down against the supporting clamp member, dotted lines illustrating different positions of adjustment of the detachable clamp piece relative to the supporting clamp member.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the detachable clamp piece alone.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Now referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates the base member which may be of wood, metal or other suitable material, and the numeral 2 generally designates an anvil or supporting clamp member comprising a support portion 3 secured to and upstanding from a base I, and a shoe supporting clamp part 4 carried at the upper end of the support 3. As will be seen from Figure l, the fixed clamp part 4 is of a general shape in plan view similar to the shape of a shoe sole and has a rearwardly extending portion 4a of narrow dimension and a forwardly extending portion 4b of wider dimension. The particular .shape of the clamping part 4 is not important except that it is designed to fit inside of a shoe and to support the same with the shank portion of the shoe clampingly supported from inside the shoe and a configuration as to universally fit within Shoes of various sizes irrespective of whether they are right or left shoes.

The device of my invention, as illustrated, further comprises the detachable clamp piece or member generally designated by the numeral 5 and consisting of a main body portion 6 which may be of wood, metal or other suitable relatively rigid material and a cushion or resilient attached part l suitably secured to the under side of the main body portion 6. The member 5 is provided at its opposite side edges with slots 8a extending to and open at the side edges of said member. At the inner ends of the slots 8a, the body portion 6 of the member 5 is provided with tapered sockets 8 flaring upwardly and outwardly and adapted to receive the tapered neck portions 9a of the wing nut members 9 forming parts of the clamp tightening and adjusting instrumentalities which further comprise rods l0, threaded at their upper ends for screw cooperation with the nut members 9.

The rod members ID are two in number, arranged for movable cooperation with the base member I at each side thereof and at opposite sides of the support 3. For this purpose the base member 9 is provided with counter bored holes I I for receiving the shank portion of the rods! and the lower-endsof said holes ll .areofenlarged size and of substantially semi-spherical shape to provide seats for the semi-sphericalend portions Illa ofrods Ill. The main bores of the holes II are of'larger diameter than the diameters of'the'shank portions of the rods! and the 4 semi-circular socket portions of the holes II are preferably larger than the semi-circular head portions Illa which are received thereby, so that the rod members ID are arranged for universal movement relative to the base member I in fore and aft and lateral directions.

In the use of the shank press of my invention, the nut members 9 are unscrewed to withdraw the same from the seats or socket portions 8 of the slots 8a to permit the rods ID to be displaced from the slots 8a for detachment of the clamp piece 5. With the latter removed, the shoe to be operated upon is slipped over the supporting clamp member 2 so that the clamp part 4 is inside the shoe with the narrow part 4a facing rearwardly toward the heel thereof and the wider part 4?) facing forwardly toward the toe of the shoe. It will be assumed, of course, that the shoe is one that has previously had a new half sole cemented thereto and stitched around the edges of the sole and it is desired to clamp the shank portion of said shoe half sole to hold the same in position until the cement has dried.

With the shoe emplaced upon the supporting clamp member as above described, the sole of the shoe facing upwardly, the clamp piece 5 will be placed over the shank portion of the shoe, over the unstitched edge portion of the half sole, with the resilient cushion member 1, which may be of soft rubber or the like, directly engaging said portion of the sole of the shoe. The clamp piece 5 is moved to the desired position transversely of and fore and aft of the shoe and the rod members ID are moved relatively to the base member I so as to be received in the slots 8a, after which the nut members 9 are screwed downwardly on the rods I0 so that the tapered shoulder portions 9a are seated in the seat portions 8 at the inner ends of the slots 8a.

With the parts positioned as just described and the nut members 9 more or less tightened into the seat portions 3 so that the rods It] cannot be displaced from the slots Ba, the clamp piece 5 may still be shifted relatively to the sole and to the fixed clamp member 4 to position the clamp piece 5 in exactly the desired position, properly clamping the unstitched edge of the half sole down onto the upper of the shoe, by reason of the universally movable connection of the rod members [El with respect to the base member I, and the similar universal connection of the rod members Ill and nut members 9 with respect to the clamp piece 5, it being noted in this connection that the slots 3a are wider than the diameter of the rods :8 and the tapered neck portion 9a of the nut members 9 are movable in the seats 8 prior to final tightening of the nut members 9. When the clamp piece 5 has been properly positioned, as just described, and Figure 1 illustrates by way of exampleby full lines and dotted lines various positions which the clamp piece 5 may assume, the nut members 9 are then screwed down to tightly clamp the clamp piece 5 against the shank portionof the sole of the shoe which in turn is supported by the clamppart 4.

Itwill be noted that under the conditions above described, when the clamp piece 5 has been preliminarily emplaced upon the sole of the shoe and the nut members 9 are seated in the seats 8, just prior to final tightening, the clamp piece 5 may be moved transversely of the shoe and either or both slotted ends of the clamp piece 5 may be moved forwardly or rearwardly of the shoe as illustrated by dotted lines in Figure 1, so that the proper clamping action can be accomplished with the cushion member I properly engaging the desired portion of the shank portion of the sole of the shoe.

It will be understood, of course, that the base member I, the stand or support 3, and the clamp member 4 may all be formed as one piece or unit or these elements may be formed separately and secured together, and in either event they form an integral shoe supporting clamp member structure.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a very simple, inexpensive and eificient shank press which may be manufactured at relatively small expense as compared with prior devices used for this purpose, as above described, so that the relatively small shoe repair shops may readily afford any suitable number of the shank presses of my invention at a fraction of the cost of the same number of prior devices which may be required for the purpose.

It will also be apparent that the shank press of my invention is readily usable for the purpose mentioned with various sizes of shoes, irrespective of whether the shoes are right or left shoes, and that the device of my invention affords a high degree of facility of adjustment of the clamp members and adjustable clamp tightening instrumentalities.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shank press comprising, in combination, a fixed shoe supporting clamp member having a supporting base extending laterally at either side thereof, clamp tightening instrumentalities including rod-like members associated with said base, one at each side of said fixed clamp member, each rod-like member having a shank and an enlarged head portion, the base having holes therein, each hole having a shank receivingportion of larger diameter than the shank for receiving the latter, and each hole having a socket portion larger than the enlarged head portion for receiving the same whereby the rod-like membets are associated with said base for universal movement relative thereto, and a relatively movable clamp member having an open ended slot at each opposite side edge for receiving a respective one of said rod-like members, said movable clamp member having a flared socket at the inner end of each slot, said instrumentalities including a nut having threaded cooperation with each rod-like member and having a tapered neck portion adapted to engage a, respective socket portion of the movable clamp member.

2. A shank press comprising, in combination, a fixed shoe supporting clamp member having a supporting base, clamp tightening instrumentalities including rod-like members associated with said base, one at each side of said fixed clamp member, said rod-like members being associated with said base for universal movement relative thereto, and a relatively movable clamp member having an open ended slot at each opposite side edge for receiving a respective one of said rod-like members, said movable clamp member having a flared socket at the inner end of each slot, said instrumentalities including a nut having threaded cooperation with each rod-like member and having a tapered neck portion adapted to engage a respective socket portion of the movable clamp member. I

MARIO REPICE.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Valdiserri Apr. 12, 1938 Number 

